A French validation of the short Need For Affect scale

IntroductionThe way we interact with our environment depends on our spontaneous tendency to approach or to avoid emotional experiences triggered by that environment. This dimension of the emotional experience is called the need for affect, that is, the tendency of individuals to adopt approaching or avoidance behaviour with regard to emotional stimuli.MethodsThe Need For Affect (NFA) Scale has been the subject of numerous studies since the validation of the original version (Maio & Esses, 2001) and its short version (Appel et al., 2012). However, no validation of the latter scale has been conducted in French. We propose a French version of the short NFA scale on a student sample and a sample from the general population.ResultsWe found the structure of the original scale in a French translation (of the English version). In addition, invariance tests showed that this structure remained the same for both samples.ConclusionWe recommend the use of this version of the short NFA scale for studies conducted on French-speaking samples.     

Perceiving red decreases motor performance over time: A pilot study

IntroductionColors may influence motor performance.ObjectiveThe present study aimed to compare the effects of perception of red and green environments on physical (performance and heart rate) and psychological (perceived effort, anxiety and enjoyment) parameters during cycling trials.MethodTen cyclists achieved two identical series of three randomized 7-minute trials on home trainers, during which they were continuously exposed to red, green, and gray environments. Covered distance and heart rate were recorded during each trial, after which participants answered items intended to assess perceived effort, anxiety, and enjoyment experienced during the trial.ResultsResults showed that covered distance (ps ≤ .02) and heart rate (ps ≤ .03) were lower in the red environment than in the gray and green environments. Enjoyment was higher in the green environment than in the red environment (p = .006). The colored environments did not influence perceived effort and anxiety (ps > .05).ConclusionThis study is the first to show that perceiving red is detrimental for motor performance over an extended period of time.     

Switching between sensory and affective systems incurs processing costs

Recent models of the conceptual system hold that concepts are grounded in simulations of actual experiences with instances of those concepts in sensory-motor systems (e.g., Barsalou, 1999, 2003; Solomon & Barsalou, 2001). Studies supportive of such a viewhave shown that verifying a property of a concept in one modality, and then switching to verify a property of a different concept in a different modality generates temporal processing costs similar to the cost of switching modalities in perception. In addition to non-emotional concepts, the present experiment investigated switching costs in verifying properties of positive and negative (emotional) concepts. Properties of emotional concepts were taken from vision, audition, and the affective system. Parallel to switching costs in neutral concepts, the study showed that for positive and negative concepts, verifying properties from different modalities produced processing costs such that reaction times were longer and error rates were higher. Importantly, this effect was observed when switching from the affective system to sensory modalities, and vice-versa. These results support the embodied cognition view of emotion in humans.     

A need-supportive teaching approach among students with intellectual disability in physical education

ObjectivesThe present study tested a need-supportive teaching approach to enhance the experience of need satisfaction, autonomous motivation, and well-being, and to decrease need frustration, controlled motivation, amotivation, and ill-being among students with intellectual disability in physical education activities. We further tested the effects of experimental condition in predicting students’ need satisfaction and need frustration, motivational regulations, and well-being and ill-being over the semester.DesignExperimental study.MethodsNinety eight students with mild and borderline intellectual disabilities (M_age = 16.53, SD = 3.22; female = 63.3%) attended in this experimental semester-long study. Teachers (N = 6) of students randomly assigned into either an experimental (need-supportive teaching style) or a control (usual teaching style) condition. Students filled out the targeted questionnaires at the beginning (T1), middle (T2), and the end of the semester (T3).FindingsThe results showed that students of the teachers in the experimental condition reported higher need satisfaction and positive affect, and lesser need frustration, amotivation, and negative affect than students of the teachers in the control condition. The results also showed that experimental condition predicted positively T3 need satisfaction, whereas and negatively predicted T3 need frustration, amotivation, and negative affect.ConclusionFindings highlight the importance of teachers’ need-supportive teaching behaviors to enhance positive outcomes, and decreasing their negative outcomes in students with intellectual disabilities in PE.     

Hope emplaced. What happens to hope after arrival: The case of Ecuadorian families living in Italy

In the literature, hope has been mainly analyzed as an emotional state linked to temporality. This stance has prompted criticism of hope as projecting promises, which may never be fulfilled, into an indefinite future. Whilst this is partly true, this paper aims to enlarge previous approaches by illustrating hope's connection with spatiality. The paper examines ‘hope’ among Italian families of Ecuadorian origin, through analysis of affective states produced by the place to which they have migrated. Hope emerges as a dynamic relation between the resources one has and the place one is in. The spatial dimension of hope mitigates criticisms of its evanescence; the paper emphasizes the political aspects of hope as a resource for migrants to realize their agency and interact with the world.     

Un jury sous influence : l’impact des affects, du type d’expertise et des circonstances aggravantes sur l’activité décisionnelle des jurés

We investigated the effects of three variables on jurors' verdict and sentence concerning a motorist responsible for the accidental death a man. Specifically, we assessed the effects of some aggravating circumstances, and those of two extra legal variables, namely, the nature of the feelings presumably expressed by the accident perpetrator regarding the victim, and the content of a medical and psychological expertise about him. The perpetrator was given a harsher sentence, assigned a negative identity, and was the target of little identification when he was submitted to a biological expertise, said to have displayed some indifference regarding the victim, and when he was charged with aggravating circumstances. Conversely, when the accused showed some sadness, he received a lenient sentence, especially in the absence of aggravating circumstances.     

Self, Other, Positive, and Negative Affect Scales of the Self-Confrontation Method: factorial structure and unidimensionality

In the self-confrontation method, the rows of a grid consist of valuations (i.e. summaries of important personal narratives), while the columns contain affects grouped into four scales (see title). These affects (varying from 16 to 30) are rated on a 0–5 scale of intensity, resulting in an affect profile for each valuation. Principal components analysis on the affect profiles of a client sample, using a list of 30 affects, yielded a 3-factor solution, with 2 unipolar and 1 bipolar factor, in accordance with the four scales. On the basis of this analysis, a list of 24 affects was derived with six affects per scale. This list was then applied to a student sample to cross-validate the results. Unidimensionality of the four scales was found at the level of single grids, and across both client and student samples. It was concluded that the four scales of the 24-affect list appeared to be psychometrically sound and optimally suited for use in research and practice.     

Coping with COVID-19: The sociomaterial dimensions of living with pre-existing mental illness during the early stages of the coronavirus crisis

In this article, we use the case study method to detail the experiences of five participants who reported living with pre-existing mental illness during COVID-19. We adopted a sociomaterial analytical approach, seeking to identify how human and nonhuman agents came together to generate states of wellbeing or distress during this challenging period. As the case studies show, feelings of anxiety, fear and risk were generated from the following sociomaterial conditions: loss of face-to-face contact with friends and family members; concerns about hygiene and infecting others; financial stress; loss of regular paid employment or volunteering work; public spaces; and the behaviour of unknown others in public spaces. The agents and practices that emerged as most important for opening capacities for coping and maintaining wellness during lockdown included: the space of the home; contact with a small number of intimate others; online therapeutic care; practising self-care skills learnt from previous difficult times; helping and supporting others; engaging in leisure activities; and the companionship of pets. Contributing to an affirmative approach to more-than-human assemblages of health, distress and recovery, these findings demonstrate what bodies can do in times of crisis and the agents and practices that can generate capacities for coping.     

Changes in goal-related affects: Decrease burnout during a group psychotherapy intervention

The study examined the role played by changes in employees' goal-related affects in decreasing burnout during a group intervention. 62 white-collar employees, suffering from severe burnout, were randomized into 10-month group intervention programmes consisting of 16 intensive 1-day sessions every second week. The participants appraised their work and interpersonal goals according to their positive and negative affects weekly for 54 weeks. During the pre- and postintervention and follow-up (6 months later) measurements, the participants filled out a burnout measurement. The results, analysed by multilevel modelling, showed that a decrease in the negative affects and an increase in the positive affects of work and interpersonal goals during the later part of the intervention was related to a decrease in burnout symptoms. The decrease in goal-related negative affects was associated with a decrease in burnout in the postintervention measurement, whereas the increase in goal-related positive affects was related to a decrease in follow-up burnout.     

Étude des préférences affectives dans la relation fraternelle au travers du dessin de famille imaginaire

This article reveals the role of older (real or imaginary) brothers and sisters, and more broadly the part of affective process in socialization of 4-5 years old girls born of mixed sibling, single-sex sibling or single girl. We used the imaginary family drawing followed by an interview on the sibling relationship. The qualitative and quantitative analysis' results reveal that identifications are always overloaded to the affects but are directed according to the sex of the chosen model. Moreover, most of the girls increase their own sex-group and assert in this manner their sexual identity. The brother's experiment depends on the populations and allows the child in a mix-sibling configuration to be more flexible according to sexual stereotypes.